Israel’s attorney general to indict Rabbi Pinto: report

Embattled New York City real estate advisor Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto will be indicted by Attorney General of Israel Yehuda Weinstein for attempting to bribe an Israeli police officer for information on a closed investigation.

Weinstein will file the indictment in the next few days, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Pinto, the head of a New York-based nonprofit called Mosdot Shuva Israel and an advisor to several high-profile real estate figures, was arrested in 2012 after millions of dollars connected to his real estate investments disappeared, as The Real Deal previously reported.

Pinto’s nonprofit was under investigation when he allegedly offered a roughly $57,000 bribe to Ephraim Bracha, a senior police officer who is now the commander of Israel’s National Fraud Squad, for information on the case.

Into’s indictment follows the resignation of a senior Israeli police commander, Menashe Arbiv, who recently left his post amid the investigation for reasons that remain unclear, according to previous reports. [Jerusalem Post]– Angela Hunt